59 cu. ft. (1 record storage box) (116 document boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Manuscripts
Date:
1908-1974
Descriptive Entry:
The records pertain to the administration of David W. Scott, director, 1965-1968, Robert Tyler Davis, interim director, 1969, and Joshua C. Taylor, director, 1970-
. Some records, most noticeably correspondence with Smithsonian Art Commission members, have been pulled up into the files from previous administrations.
Also included are Smithsonian Art Commission and National Collection of Fine Arts (NCFA) Commission reports, and correspondence with Commission members, 1908-1972; NCFA
fiscal material; memoranda between NCFA staff; NCFA policies and procedures; correspondence with Smithsonian administrators; exhibition material; gifts and purchases; renovation
of the old Patent Office Building; correspondence with professional organizations; correspondence with state, local, and private art galleries; correspondence with universities
concerning art programs and exhibits; and correspondence with federal agencies and foreign art museums. Projects and museums supported by NCFA, or responsible to NCFA, and
documented in these records include the Barney Studio House; Bicentennial Inventory of American Painting; Cooper Union Museum; Renwick Gallery; and the White House art program
seminars.
Important correspondents, organizations, and art museums, whose material appears in the records include the American Federation of Art, Archives of American Art, Adelyn
D. Breeskin, Alexander Calder, Edith Halpert (Downtown Gallery), William H. Holmes, Harry Lowe, Stanton MacDonald-Wright, Paul Manship, National Council on the Arts, National
Gallery of Art, George Rickey, and S. Dillon Ripley.
The index card file only partially indexes the records of the Central Files and is arranged alphabetically by name. An asterisk before a folder denotes that the folder
contains art catalogs, pamphlets, or photographs of art work.
Historical Note:
The Central Administrative File was established in order to receive records of the director, assistant director, and copies and original incoming and outgoing correspondence
carried on by museum curators, administrators, technicians, and research assistants. This system was discontinued in 1975.
Directory to the Bicentennial Inventory of American Paintings Executed before 1914
Collection Creator::
Smithsonian Institution. Assistant Secretary for History and Art Search this
Container:
Box 13 of 45
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 337, Smithsonian Institution, Assistant Secretary for History and Art, American Revolution Bicentennial Records
Folk Art Exhibit - People (Concerning Michigan State University organized exhibition, developed out of "Local Survey" project done in support of the Bicentennial Inventory of American Paintings Executed before 1914). 3/4" video tape.
Collection Creator::
Smithsonian Institution. Assistant Secretary for History and Art Search this
Container:
Box 39 of 45
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 337, Smithsonian Institution, Assistant Secretary for History and Art, American Revolution Bicentennial Records
National Collection of Fine Arts. Office of Administration Search this
Extent:
15 cu. ft. (30 document boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Manuscripts
Date:
1964-1980
Descriptive Entry:
These records include administrative subject files, personnel records, financial and budgetary materials, and exhibition files. The administrative subject files contain
letters, memoranda, reports, inventories, and other records which chronicle the day-to-day operations of NCFA. Among these are correspondence with NCFA curators and Smithsonian
administrators; the development and opening of the Renwick Gallery; the Bicentennial Inventory of American Painting and other NCFA activities celebrating the Bicentennial
of the American Revolution; correspondence concerning the purchase of the Juley Collection of photographs; and records documenting a number of NCFA-supervised museums and
projects, such as the International Art Program (under both United States Information Agency and NCFA direction), the Barney Studio House, Cooper-Hewitt Museum, and the Smithsonian
Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES).
Personnel records include NCFA staff lists and organizational charts, curricula vitae, and position descriptions. Financial and budgetary records document NCFA administrative
and exhibition budgets, 1966-1978. Exhibition records contain internal memoranda; correspondence with artists, agents, lending institutions, and corporate sponsors; lending
agreements, expense reports, and other official receipts and records concerning the organization and implementation of exhibitions at both NCFA and the Renwick Gallery.
Historical Note:
Early administrative records of the National Collection of Fine Arts (NCFA) were maintained in the Central Administrative File. See Record Unit 313.
David W. Scott served as Director, 1965-1968, and Robert Tyler Davis as Acting Director, 1969. Joshua C. Taylor was appointed Director in 1970 and held the position, 1970-1981.
Administrators during the period covered by the records were: Harry W. Zichterman and Louise W. Robinson, Administrative Officers, 1965-1968; Harry W. Zichterman, Administrative
Officer, Planning and Budget, 1969-1970; George Riggs, Administrative Officer, 1971-1972; Harry Jordan, Administrative Officer, 1973, Assistant Director for Administration
and Management, 1974-1976; and H. Eugene Kelson, Administrator, 1977-1980.
